A Mini Trip to Chattanooga TN

I feel bad that today is the last day of Blogtember and I am sharing sidewalk art from Chattanooga TN rather than an old picture, but I comfort myself in the knowledge that this small city at the border of Georgia and Tennessee was a place I visited a number of times as a child on school trips and family vacations. 

Chattaminions in Coolidge Park

Dance(?) steps on Frazier Ave.

While I can't say I am particularly familiar with this area despite how frequently I have been, Justin and I definitely got reacquainted with the city streets walking along Market Street across the John Ross Bridge up Frazier Avenue, back across the pedestrian friendly Walnut Street Bridge and back E 3rd Street (or the Tennessee Riverwalk on our second time around). We arrived in Chattanooga around 3PM and did not leave until 10PM after the sun had set and I was able to take a few nighttime shots.

It was nice being able to venture back to our old stomping ground from childhood and recount the memories of a school trip to the aquarium and playing in the river nearby. Finding new and exciting artwork and treasures along the streets including a drawing of minions and a series of dance steps leading to a kiss (as pictured above) made our Sunday just a bit more exciting than what we had anticipated. (Why are so many of the restaurants closed on Sunday?! Come on now!)

One of the more exciting things we did was to get ice cream from The Ice Cream Show. A bit expensive, you picked your flavor of ice cream or yogurt (just vanilla or chocolate) and whatever toppings you wanted on or in the ice cream. Justin and I got vanilla ice cream with cookie dough, oreo, and strawberry toppings inside a waffle cup. (I have issues with cones.)

Overall we had a delightful Sunday, and we are already planning yet another short trip up there soon. (The goal from the last trip being a visit to Cloudland Canyon State Park, which obviously didn't happen.)

Did we miss anything exciting in Chattanooga that we should do or see next time? Do you know who the artist behind the dance steps on Frazier Avenue was? Most importantly, where should one go for an awesome sunset/sunrise picture? I am dying to know! :)

Internships Can Go Wrong

Dear R------,

It's been 4 years since I last "worked" for you…four years since you last took advantage of me.

When I started interning for you, I thought I would have the opportunity to learn from your experience, but just a few weeks in, it became clear that I was wrong and clearly a bad fit for your company.

You claimed that my skill level was below yours, which I had a hard time believing, and you encouraged me to be less "safe" in my work. You said I didn't integrate feedback into my work, and that I wasn't trainable. After working with me for 13 hours, you decided that I needed to be worth the time you were losing to (or investing in?) me without even thinking about how government laws required you to pay me at least minimum wage for any work I did for you that benefitted your company.

As if all of that were not enough, you felt it was necessary to contact my other internship and confirm your findings about me were true. You then emailed us both that you were putting me on unpaid probation for 9 months following a 6 month externship in which I also wouldn't be paid.

(Unpaid probation for an internship?! I mean -- really?!? What were you thinking?! Did you actually think I would continue?)

R------, dear R------, I hate to break it to you dear, but your work wasn't that good. You may have been paid for what you did, but, frankly, your work embarrassed me. I was not above learning and trying to improve, but, if I was not integrating your feedback, it was because I had no interest in merely doing "as good" as you. I have never had any interest in just being average, and I certainly did not want to be humiliated by my own hard work. I didn't want to be just like you.

The very last e-mail you sent to me may have upset me, made me cry, stolen my confidence for a month or so, and resulted in the loss of not one but two internships that summer. Unfortunately, it was a necessary learning experience for me. I needed to find a company that would value my work and encourage me to improve. Shortly after I quit working for you, a few e-mails went out and within days I had three positions offered to me. Clearly you were wrong about something.

R------, I should have reported your company to my school and talked with the labor department. You were wrong for using me and then holding the work I had done for you over my head stating that I had cost you time and money.

Maybe your work has improved since that time (although your website doesn't look it!), and maybe I just happened to meet you at a difficult point in your life. I'd say I hope business is going well, but, considering your work, I'm really hoping people have better sense/taste than to go to you with their "vintage" images and video. Perhaps you have learned from your mistakes as I have mine?

It is truly a diamond in the rough if you manage to snag an internship or job with a company that respects you, believes in you, and is willing to actually pay you at some point. I am lucky to have found that and more…without your help.

Thanks for nothing,

M----

** If you are currently interning with any company, be fully aware of your rights and never do anything you are uncomfortable with. If they are getting paid for your work, you should be too.

*** This blog post was written in response to today's blogtember challenge of writing a letter to someone on facebook. (Although I may have taken it in a bit of a weird direction!)

Cheating

(He's cheating on his diet. Don't tell!)

Today for the blogtember challenge, I was suppose to go somewhere else and blog.

I went to lunch with my husband.

And guess what?

I.

didn't.

blog.

But since I went out…and I blogged (later) that means the challenge is completed for today, right?!?!

Right. ;)

Hope everyone is having a fantastic Thursday! :)

Screwing Up

(He's shocked that I could ever screw up!)

The Blogtember challenge today is about screwing up, and I have definitely screwed up before.

Like the time I was suppose to babysit at 8AM, and I woke up at 7:40AM, approximately 20 minutes after I should have left the house. (God must have been with me since I hit every green light, and managed to actually make it on time!)

Or what about when I made cinnamon toast and mixed up the cinnamon and paprika actually making paprika toast instead. (Yuck!)

Last week I ordered photos from Costco in glossy rather than lustre. Within two minutes of ordering I had them on the phone changing my order.

I don't really think you can live life and not screw up, so I'm not entirely sure what the point of this blog post challenge is for. Letting you know I'm human and somewhat normal? Or that I'm awkward and can't cook?

Obviously, learning from one's mistakes is clearly the path to happiness, but accepting that you will occasionally make mistakes is also important.

At least today is Wednesday. There is only one more day this week for my screw-ups to affect anyone else but myself! (I get Friday off. Yay!)

Purex UltraPacks + Oxi Review & Giveaway

Giveaway is over! Thanks to all who entered! Winners have been announced!

As part of the Blogtember challenge, I decided to not only review Purex UltraPacks + Oxi, but also to give away a coupon for you to try it as well!

When I first heard about Purex + Oxi UltraPacks, I have to admit that I was fairly intrigued. While Purex has only recently been introduced to my household, Oxi has been a brand my family has used for years. If you couldn't get a stain out with normal laundry detergent, you used Oxi. Then, to sweeten the deal even further, the prospect of having Oxi + Purex detergent in a laundry pod?! Rather than worrying about how much detergent to put into the clothes washer, I can just throw a single dose laundry detergent pod in and go! It's quick, easy, and a huge time saver! Who doesn't want (or need) more time?!

I definitely recommend Purex UltraPacks + Oxi since it fights over 101 tough stains leaving your clothes bright, white, and clean. :)

Now for the giveaway!

There are two opportunities to win:

1. Tell me one of your best-kept laundry secrets!

and/or

2. Share some of your best budgeting advice.

Please remember to include your e-mail address, so that I can contact you if you win. Giveaway will go until midnight est Wednesday October 2. US residents only please.

Good luck!! I can't wait to read your comments!

*The Purex brand provided me with a sample of Purex UltraPacks plus Oxi in exchange for a product review. All opinions expressed here are my own.

Finances Update

I dislike today's challenge, so instead I'm going to do a finance update! Woo!

Currently:
This past month (Aug 15 - Sep 15) has really involved a learning curve as we figured out how to use credit cards to earn mileage without overstepping our budget. Unfortunately with some big unexpected yet necessary expenses last month, it would seem we did go over budget enough to make us fidget.

Don't feel too badly for us though. While we had enough money in savings to cover our over budget spending, Justin and I agreed that some of his paycheck would cover those enormous unfortunate expenses so that we could continue building our savings account up.

So here is the graph of our debt:

Definitely not where we want it, but it could be much worse.

And since you got to see our debt, here are our assets:

They also aren't exactly where we want them, but a little bit of growth is far better than no growth at all.

According to Mint, Justin and I are expecting to pay off our credit card debt by Aug '14 and have our savings account built up to where we want it by May '14. I'm not entirely sure if those will happen due to our upcoming vacation, but it's a good goal at least.

A Look Back:

If you recall, I started my budget challenge in January. As it turns out, it wasn't suppose to last this long! I was going to get us on budget and keep us on budget and that was it!

So what have I learned in 8 months?

Budgeting is hard. Especially when you get back from vacations and around birthday/holiday season or when you change your method of payment. I think I'm discovering that consistency is the easiest way to approach budgeting, but it is also one of the hardest. After all, you can't eat the same thing every day for months and months on end. You eventually need new clothes or cleaning supplies… Gas doesn't exactly stay at the same price for very long. Oh – and there is always an excuse for going over budget.

A Look Forward:

While we can't always prepare for problems or things that *pop* up, I think Justin and I are doing pretty good at budgeting comparatively.

- We've researched a lot about our upcoming trip to Germany and all of the travel expenses that will come with it. Passports have been obtained and a Goes interview date has been set. I even found this awesome list of suggestions for saving money while traveling!

- By obtaining a few credit cards to start collecting points, Justin has increased his credit score substantially making it easier for him to get credit in the long run. (It also helped him by choosing a no interest, free credit transfer card to pay down the debt he/we currently has/have.)

- Lowering a few of our monthly bills during the summer and not including Justin's raise in our budget will hopefully lead to more money in the future… right?

- With three separate savings accounts, we are able to know exactly what we are saving for and how far we are from our goal… plus maximize interest, which is generally a good thing.

To You, My Dear Readers: 

I welcome any suggestions or recommendations for saving money and lowering debt… or especially traveling overseas without a lot of money. I share what I find, but I can't possibly find everything. :)

Also, there will be a giveaway coming up soon, so keep an eye on the blog!! :)

Have a great Thursday!

Anthropologie Giveaway!

In case you are interested, I highly recommend checking out Behind the Dressing Room Door. Along with posting lots of great Anthropologie related news, they are currently hosting an Anthropologie gift card giveaway for their 3 year blogiversary! How awesome is that?!